Lee says Trump created 'opportunity for change,' calls for speedy resumption of North Korea-U.S. talks at UN

NEW YORK — President Lee Jae Myung urged the speedy resumption of North Korea-U.S. talks, noting that U.S. President Donald Trump has “created a hard-won opportunity for change” in his address to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.

“For decades, the two Koreas, along with key countries such as the United States and China, have recognized the need for a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and discussed ways to achieve it,” Lee said at the UN headquarters in New York. “Fortunately, President Trump’s resolve has recently created a hard-won opportunity for change.”

Lee shared with the international community his three-point blueprint for the road to peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula through building mutual respect, rendering conflict unnecessary and responsibly contributing to world peace.

“As a direct party to peace on the Korean Peninsula, and as a pacemaker, my government will exert every effort to open and sustain the path toward dialogue,” Lee said.

During his first summit with Trump in Washington last year, Lee asked Trump to play a "peacemaker" role to resume dialogue with the North, promising to become a pacemaker to support such efforts.

“I hope the long-suspended dialogue between North Korea and the United States can resume without delay,” Lee said. “We will lay the groundwork for this to develop into a dialogue among the parties aimed at ending the war on the Korean Peninsula and transitioning to a peace regime.”

The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice agreement signed by the U.S.-led UN Command and the North Korean and Chinese militaries. The agreement, signed on July 27, 1953, only temporarily halted the conflict, leaving the two Koreas technically at war to this day.

Lee reiterated his phased approach to North Korea's denuclearization, calling for a freeze in further advances in North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities, followed by reductions and a move toward "a Korean Peninsula free from nuclear weapons" in the long term.

“We will go beyond building a Korean Peninsula free from war and nuclear weapons to promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia, while actively contributing to global efforts to build a world free from war and conflict,” Lee said.

In his first UN address last year, Lee outlined his vision of a new era of peaceful coexistence and shared growth through comprehensive dialogue with North Korea centered on "exchange," "normalization" and "denuclearization," or the so-called END initiative.

Likewise, Lee previously called to “initiate dialogue among directly concerned parties” to conclude the war in his Liberation Day address in August, but this is the first time he has made a proposal on the international stage involving key stakeholders.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump gave an address to the UN General Assembly, though he made no specific mention of North Korea despite signaling his intention to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year in recent weeks.

In this year’s speech, Lee also underscored that armed conflicts around the world, including those in Ukraine and the Middle East, "continue to threaten the survival of humanity."

"Tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz are undermining the fundamental principles of ‘free and safe navigation’ and heightening the vulnerability of energy supply chains," Lee said.

Lee further laid out his three visions for the “K-Initiative” to fulfill South Korea’s commitment to restoring the spirit of the UN and reconnecting the world.

The South Korean president called for a global AI universal basic society, harnessing the AI revolution as a new driver to realize economic, social and cultural rights. He said South Korea will build a global AI hub to share this vision.

He also called for a green transformation to address the global climate crisis, sharing South Korea’s strategy to convert its industrial structure so that carbon neutrality becomes a source of new growth engines and decent jobs.

Lee also urged a coalition for global energy supply chains amid repeated blockades of sea routes in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

“This has underscored the stark reality that the weaponization of key energy and logistics supply routes can send severe shockwaves to the lives of ordinary people around the world,” Lee said. “Freedom of navigation and safe passage through international straits is a right grounded in international law and serves as a bedrock of the global economy.”

He proposed a “partnership of constructive contributors,” functioning under the existing international order, to “move beyond geopolitical rivalry, deadlock and fragmentation, and rebuild trust in multilateralism.”

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]